Kyrgyzstan protested the US

Bishkek protested to the United States in connection with the award of a human rights award to a dissident who is serving a life sentence in a Kyrgyz prison for "inciting ethnic hatred."

On Thursday, the US State Department awarded the Defender of Human Rights Award for 2014 to journalist and activist Azimzhan Askarov. The award was given to his son.

Ethnic Uzbek Askarov was sentenced to life imprisonment for "organizing riots" and inciting ethnic hatred, which led to the killing of a policeman during clashes in southern Kyrgyzstan in June 2010, during which more than 400 died.

On Friday, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Kyrgyzstan presented a note of protest to US Charge d'Affaires in the Republic Richard Miles in connection with the awarding of Askarov.

“The decision to award the award to Askarov ... contradicts friendly relations between Kyrgyzstan and the United States and may affect the government’s efforts to promote inter-ethnic harmony, creating a threat to civil peace and stability in society,” the Kyrgyz government said in a statement.

In Kyrgyzstan, two presidents were violently overthrown in 2005 and 2010, and the situation in the country is still unstable.

In 2011, a parliamentary commission concluded that the ethnic conflict was provoked by “several leaders of the Uzbek community” and a clan of runaway President Kurmanbek Bakiyev, who was overthrown in April of 2010.

International and local human rights organizations have repeatedly called for the release of Askarov. The activist said the police used torture on him, according to Human Rights Watch.

The US State Department called Askarov “a unifying figure for human rights activists that unites people of any nationality and origin to urge the Kyrgyz government to take effective measures to establish a sustainable peace between Uzbeks and Kyrgyz.”